[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 8687]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE 
                       OVERSEAS MILITARY PROGRAM

 Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I want to offer my 
congratulations and very best wishes to all those gathered at the 50th 
Anniversary celebration of the University of Maryland University 
College (UMUC) serving the United States military in Europe. I am 
pleased to take part in recognizing the longstanding tradition that 
this institution continues to uphold in ensuring quality higher 
education for our servicemembers overseas.
  It has always been my firm belief that a democracy cannot prosper and 
grow without an educated populace, and therefore the education of the 
individual is one of the most important tasks in our society. The 
success and growth of UMUC is a critical testament to the importance of 
educational opportunities for our military personnel in Europe. From 
its inception, this institution has viewed higher education from a 
global perspective, an approach which has put UMUC at the forefront of 
the larger higher education community.
  Following World War II, when the United States military invited 
American universities to provide higher educational programs to 
servicemembers at military installations throughout Europe, UMUC was 
the only institution to respond. This began a historic 50 year 
partnership with the military in Europe and starting in 1956, in Asia 
as well. The noted British scholar Arnold Toynbee wrote that the UMUC 
program in Europe is ``an American achievement from which the rest of 
the world has much to learn.''
  Since the first year, UMUC has offered educational opportunities to 
hundreds of thousands of our men and women overseas. Even now, it is 
wonderful to hear that this tradition continues in many locations at 
long established military installations in Germany, Britain, Italy, and 
Spain including temporary facilities in Kosovo and Bosnia.
  I commend the University of Maryland University College for its 50 
year history of unparalleled service and success in the field of 
education and I look forward to a continued close association with this 
exemplary institution.

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